Forbes Fictional 15: Fiction’s richest characters

Each year Forbes releases the Forbes Fictional 15, their annual listing of fiction’s richest characters. And it’s a great year to be fictional; these characters possess a combined net worth of $209.5 billion, up over a whopping 55 percent from last year.

So who’s on the list? The top three starts off with Lonely Mountain resident and ancient red-golden dragon Smaug, known as “Smaug the Tremendous” at the top of the list. Second on the list and making his first appearance on it, is Diamond mining magnate Flintheart Glomgold (net worth $51.9 billion)who stole the title of “World’s Richest Duck” from his arch nemesis (and former list member) Scrooge McDuck. Not sure who these characters are? You may recognize Dr. Carlisle Cullen, the patriarch of the vampire clan in the Twilight Saga, who is sitting in the number three spot or Tony Stark at number 5.

Know a character that you think belongs on the list? To qualify for the Fictional 15, Forbes requires that candidates be an authored fictional creation, excluding mythological and folkloric characters. They must star in a specific narrative work or series of works. And they must be known, both within their fictional universe and by their audience, for being rich.

Net worth estimates are based on an analysis of the fictional character’s source material, and where possible, valued against known real-world commodity and share price movements. In the case of privately held fictional concerns, we seek to identify comparable fictional public companies. All figures are as of market close, April 1, 2012.

Check out the complete list of the Fictional 15 here. It’s nice to see a company that knows how to enjoy itself once in a while.